What's New - Kristina Martinez

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Classes

Kristina Martinez, Outreach Services Librarian, was at the Milwaukee County Law Library on January 5th teaching a class on the Wisconsin Legislature's Website. More class opportunities are available; see our classes page for more information.

2016 Year in Review - Julie Tessmer, State Law Librarian

Ready and Relevant!

In 2016 you asked and we delivered! We promptly answered your email questions, we picked up the phone when you called and greeted you when coming into the library to work on research. We also brought you ready and relevant information throughout the year by...

delivering CLE credit classes on topics such as drone law, introductory and advanced legislative history research, intellectual property law research, and Wisconsin briefs.

adding hundreds of resources to our HeinOnline subscription such as National Survey of State Laws, State Reports, Statutes, Attorney General Opinions and Session Laws, American Law Institute, and American Indian Law collections.

going on the road to offer expert training, research tips and collection development from La Crosse to Sheboygan and Wausau to Milwaukee.

In October, the library was renamed the David T. Prosser Jr. State Law Library in honor of retired Supreme Court Justice David Prosser whose interest is to help promote the services of the library to all the citizens of Wisconsin and beyond. We are ready for that mission!

As we usher in 2017, exciting things are on the horizon:

the debut of a scanning station for public use

new CLE legal research classes in both hands-on and webinar formats

our librarians out in the community more than ever

exciting events planned for National Library Week, April 10-14

I will close, as I do every year, with a grateful thanks to the most talented, dedicated and resourceful staff who every day make this place better. Whether out in the public areas or working behind the scenes - they are the magic that makes this library what it is!

Milwaukee County Law Library Year in Review - Jennifer Haas

This was a busy year for the MCLL! In July, the vacant Branch Librarian position was filled by Jennifer Haas. Jennifer has prior experience with family law and with the MCLL. She was a Library Associate while she was completing graduate school in 2010-2011. Jennifer came to us from Quarles & Brady and holds degrees from Marquette University and UW-Milwaukee.

Marisa Glazier and Brittany Lee also joined the staff in 2016 as Library Associates. Together with MCLL veteran Diana Sirovina, they have been serving the public at the reference/circulation desks. We prioritize professionalism and accuracy in all our library interactions.

In 2016 the MCLL continued partnering with the Milwaukee Public Library to offer monthly CLE classes to attorneys and the public. The CLE classes are led by law librarians from the Milwaukee legal community as well as WSLL librarians. These classes continue to be popular with the legal community.

Dane County Law Library Year in Review - Bob Lopez

2016 was a great year for the Dane County Law Library! We assisted nearly 20,000 people in the library, and we responded to over 1,500 phone and/or email questions. Additionally, the Law Library received over 2,500 reference and information requests from inmates at the Dane County jails.

This year, the Small Claims Assistance Program (SCAP), continued to fill the need for legal assistance for self-represented parties. The weekly clinic, staffed by attorneys and paralegals, assisted over 500 pro se litigants with money, eviction and return of property cases. And we continued our relationship with the UW Law School's Family Court Clinic, Restraining Order Clinic, and Consumer Law/Foreclosure Answer Clinic. These legal clinics are staffed by 2nd and 3rd year students from UW Law School. Their 2017 schedule can be found on the Dane County court website.

In May, 2016, the American Bar Association once again sponsored Law Day, a celebration of the Rule of Law, this year's theme was related to the 40th anniversary of the Miranda ruling. The Law Library participated in the event by again hosting a free, day-long legal assistance clinic where volunteer attorneys assisted dozens of visitors.

Finally, 2016 saw the departure our Library Associate Emma Fechner, and in December, Robert Lee was hired as the new Library Associate.

This Just In - Pete Boll

Substantially updated since the 2012 eighth edition, this latest handy one volume treatise covers the important aspects of consumer protection and unfair and deceptive acts and practices (UDAP). Thousands of new federal and state cases have been added including:

New precedent on UDAP challenges to credit, debt collection, mortgages and foreclosures

New cases on automobile sales, leases, and finance

What's new about UDAP actual, minimum, and multiple damages and attorney fees

Tech Tip - Heidi Yelk

The Fair Credit Reporting Act provides that consumers are entitled to one free copy of their credit report per year. But when obtaining your report, it's important to use the only website authorized by the law: annualcreditreport.com.

Consumer watchdogs have found that alternative or impostor websites promising "free" credit reports may attempt to steal personal information or dupe users into signing up for expensive credit monitoring services.

The Federal Trade Commission page, "Free Credit Reports", explains the law and the process of obtaining a free credit report.

Odds 'n' Endings

For a third year in a row, we collected a number of items this year for our sock drive. The donations were delivered to the Community Action Coalition in January. Thank you to everyone that visited the library and donated.